Wireless communication networks provide various communication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcasts. Such networks support communications for multiple users by sharing the available network resources. One example of such a network is the UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN). The UTRAN is the radio access network (RAN) defined as a part of the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a third generation (3G) mobile phone technology. The UMTS, which is the successor to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technologies, currently supports various air interface standards, such as Wideband-Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), Time Division-Code Division Multiple Access (TD-CDMA), and Time Division-Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access (TD-SCDMA). The UMTS supports enhanced 3G data communications protocols, such as High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), which provides greater data transfer speeds and capacity to associated UMTS networks. Other example networks include GPRS/EDGE, CDMA/DO, or EUTRAN (4G LTE). Such wireless communication networks may follow standards implemented by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) or the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), for example.
Contemporary wireless devices frequently include a subscriber identity module (SIM) card to facilitate communication with a communication network via a subscription for the designated voice or data subscription of the wireless device. SIM cards include information and provide identity documentation, authentication, and other information regarding a user of the wireless device via an embedded integrated circuit component. The integrated circuit component securely stores an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) with a key that is used to identify and authenticate subscribers on connected mobile devices, such as cell phones, tablets, and computers. Various other information may also be stored on the SIM card, such as an address book, text messages, network names, or other carrier or subscriber information. This information may also be read from the SIM card and be made available to the wireless device.
A SIM card is a plastic card with a SIM circuit and electrical contacts embedded therein. SIM cards conform to various standards, characterized by the size of the card. The most recent and smallest SIM card size is Nano-SIM, with Micro-SIM, Mini-SIM and the Full-size SIM cards preceding it.
SIM cards provide many benefits. SIM cards can be transferred between mobile devices to provide a generic, compatible identification and storage mechanism for subscribers using multiple device platforms. For example, a mobile network subscriber may remove his/her SIM card from a first mobile device and insert it into a second mobile device. After an authentication and initialization process, the second device may be linked to the subscriber's account. The subscriber may then use the second device to access the subscription network for as long as the SIM card remains connected/inserted in the device. Further, a new subscriber may use a different SIM card to unlock network access for additional wireless networks. For example, during an international trip, a US wireless network subscriber may purchase a short term subscription to a foreign wireless network. The user may connect to the foreign network by removing the US wireless network SIM card from his/her mobile device and inserting the foreign wireless network SIM card. After an authentication and initialization process, the mobile device may access the foreign wireless network. It would be advantageous to use the authentication capabilities of the SIM card to perform other services provided by today's high-technology mobile devices that perform a variety of computing and communication functions.